Trump calls on Walmart not to increase prices due to tariffs

President Donald Trump hit Walmart ((WMT+0.77%))) On Saturday put pressure on the retail giant under pressure, not increasing the prices after warned that his trade war policy would force them to do so.

“Walmart should stop trying to accuse tariffs as the reason for increasing prices throughout the chain.” Said Trump On his social media website truth social. “Walmart earned billions of dollars last year, far more than expected. Between Walmart and China, as I said, they should” eat the tariffs “and not charge any esteemed customers. I will watch, and their customers will also get their customers !!!”

Trumps insist that Walmart “eats” the tariffs, undermines his repeated claims that the tariffs are paid for by abroad. The tariffs are paid by companies that import goods from countries, and then these companies generally pass on at least some of these additional costs for their customers.

Walmart executives warned that this week As soon as higher prices come this month When new tasks of Chinese goods become effective.

“We would expect price increases if these tariffs were put into force,” Walmart CFO John David Rainey said CNBC on Thursday. Consumers will “see higher prices,” he said.

The warning landed only a few weeks after Walmart pulled hers Instructions on April 9, seven days after Trumps Tariff -Rollout “Liberation Day” This increased global trade.

“We will do our best to keep our prices as low as possible,” Doug McMillon, CEO von Walmart, about the company's winning business this week. But he warned that the retailer could not “absorb” the pressure from the Traiffs.

Walmart has acted as a deflationary force In the US economy for decades, he used his massive scaling and supply chain dominance-especially the inexpensive Chinese production to reduce prices in retail. By asking for the prices for the rocky floor of suppliers and passing on the savings to consumers, it helped to suppress inflation in categories, from socks to shampoo.

Now this era can be over. “The size and speed at which these prices come to us is a bit unprecedented in history,” said Rainey on Thursday.

In the same way, prices for the wider retail sector stipulated the tone, and enables other retailers and large brands to increase the example.

Speak in the Wall Street Journal (NWS-0.54%), Harvard economist Jason Furman called it a turning point: “This is not exploited Walmart. It's no choice.”

“That tells me that they are more afraid of their own customers and their reactions than before Donald Trump and his reaction,” added Furman.

– Catherine Baab contributed to this article.